WRITING AN EFFECTIVE SUBJECT LINE, OPENING LINE, AND BODY

The first battle you fight with your audience is their indifference. They don’t have time. They don’t want anyone to pitch them a product. They’re just not interested. As you know by now, you only have a few moments to capture the attention of the recipient. Your prospect’s decision of opening your email, or marking it as spam, depends largely on the subject lines and the opening line of your message.

Overview of topics

SUBJECT LINES

Think of the subject line as an opportunity. Half the job, in email marketing, is about getting your audience to open your message. The subject line is the only indication they get to what kind of message you’ve sent, and thus it becomes imperative to get this right.

According to Hubspot, about 33% of the recipients open their email because of the subject line while a whopping 69% mark their email as spam based on subject line. You simple cannot afford to mess this up.

Open

Mark Spam

BEST PRACTICES TO GET YOUR SUBJECT LINE RIGHT

ASK QUESTIONS- Asking questions increases the curiosity of the recipient, and there are high chances that he will open your email to read about what you have to offer.

KEEP IT SHORT AND CLEAR- Your subject line should be short and to the point. The recipient should be able to read the entire subject line, or at least most of it, without having to open the email. According to Hubspot, the ideal subject line is around 30 characters and tells the reader exactly what the message is about.

BE SPECIFIC AND USEFUL- No person is going to read an email if they don’t have something to gain. Hence, it is essential that your subject line states clearly what you have to offer, and how it is useful to the target audience.

DON’TOVERSELL- This is the most important thing to keep in mind. Always remember it. Always. Never oversell your services. The recipient might open your email because of an exaggerated subject, but it jeopardizes any chance of a relationship you might have had with the prospect.

PERSONALISE- Personalised emails have a better chance of being opened. Try to include the recipient’s name in the subject line, as doing so establishes the grounds for a relationship.

OPENING LINES

The first line of an email after the subject line is your opening statement, is the second most important line of your email. Complementing your opening statement with the subject line increases the impact of the message. There are two things you should keep in mind while structuring your opening line-

Lets take an example of a bad opening line

The above message seems a little off, doesn’t it? Let us look at what went wrong, and how you can avoid making similar mistakes:

THE OPENING LINE IS NOT CLEAR- Effective opening lines get to the point immediately. In the above message, it is not clear even two sentences in as to why Andrew contacted the prospect. Don’t add unnecessary terminology which the reader may not be aware of. Your introduction should be clear and concise; it should explain the subject line and make way for the rest of the message without beating around the bush.

THE ATTENTION IS NOT ON THE PROSPECT- A grave mistake most people make is when they introduce themselves in the opening sentence. Nobody cares what position you hold, or what department you work in. They’re interested in what you have to offer and thus, it is important to catch the attention of the reader and to get to the point.

Here is a better example

Way better. Together with the mistakes previously been fixed and its renewed focus on Mike’s pain, Andrew’s message scores and generates instant interest in his business’s solutions.

EMAIL BODY

The final component of a cold sales email is the body, the main part of the message. This is where you explain what services you’re willing to offer, and put forth your ask. Though not as important as the subject or opening lines in terms of grabbing attention, the body decides whether you will recieve a response or not. The following points may help you prepare a successful body-

TYPE LIKE A HUMAN- Don’t use overly formal language, like sales bots do. To establish a connection with the recipient, it is important to be genuine. Impart your own writing style into the message, but make sure your purpose is achieved.

GET TO THE POINT- Just like the subject and opening lines, the body must also be to the point. Don’t waste time giving the recipient information they don’t want. As Joanna Wiebe says; only send emails when there is more value for the recipient than you.

Your first cold email should leave questions in the mind of the reader, and should make them anxious to know more. If you are able to do that, you can be almost certain of receiving a reply.